right: Ruth Buchanan (b.1980, Aotearoa, Pākehā, Taranaki, Te Ātiawa) Split, splits, splitting (2019). Pongee wild silk curtains. Courtesy of the artist.
On the table: Artists in the Jim Barr and Mary Barr collection. Ruth Buchanan with et al., Minerva Betts, Peter Peryer. Installation view, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2022.
On the table: Artists in the Jim Barr and Mary Barr collection. Installation view, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2022.
On the table: Artists in the Jim Barr and Mary Barr collection. Ruth Buchanan with Shona Rapira Davies, Giovanni Intra, Peter Robinson and Marie Shannon. Installation view, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2022.
GIOVANNI INTRA No More Hospitals (1995) Acrylic on paper. Collection of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. Given 2006 by Jim Barr and Mary Barr. Courtesy of the Estate of Giovanni Intra
On the table: Artists in the Jim Barr and Mary Barr collection. et al. with Estate of L. Budd, Michael Parekōwhai and et al. Installation view, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2022.
On the table: Artists in the Jim Barr and Mary Barr collection. et al. with Estate of L. Budd, Michael Parekōwhai and et al. Installation view, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2022.
Michael Parekōwhai Canis minor (2016) (detail) Bronze parts, paint, carpet, golf balls . Jim Barr and Mary Barr loan collection, Dunedin Public Art Gallery.
The Estate of L. Budd Lament (1998) Steel cabinet and video monitor (detail). Jim Barr and Mary Barr loan collection, Dunedin Public Art Gallery
On the table: Artists in the Jim Barr and Mary Barr collection. Yona Lee with left: et al. Untitled (No human trafficking…) (undated) Spray-paint on wool blanket. Courtesy of Michael Lett.
Xin Cheng Paper cup, slip cast of a cone of a fruit salad plant (2011) Paper and ceramic. Jim Barr and Mary Barr loan collection, Dunedin Public Art Gallery
On the table: Artists in the Jim Barr and Mary Barr collection. Yona Lee with et al., The Estate of L. Budd, Xin Cheng, Fiona Connor, Neil Dawson, Michael Parekōwhai, Peter Robinson, Francis Upritchard and Ronnie van Hout. Installation view, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2022.
The Estate of L. Budd Forgive Descartes (1996) Blind, suitcase and book. Jim Barr and Mary Barr loan collection, Dunedin Public Art Gallery
Peter Robinson Untitled (detail from ‘Sweet Thing’) (2004). Paint over polystyrene form. Jim Barr and Mary Barr loan collection, Dunedin Public Art Gallery
On the table: Artists in the Jim Barr and Mary Barr collection. Yona Lee with et al., The Estate of L. Budd, Xin Cheng, Fiona Connor, Neil Dawson, Michael Parekōwhai, Peter Robinson, Francis Upritchard and Ronnie van Hout. Installation view, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2022.
On the table: Artists in the Jim Barr and Mary Barr collection. Nick Austin with Peter Peryer, Minerva Betts, Simon Denny, Peter Black, and Marie Shannon. Installation view, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2022
Minerva Betts Untitled (child in cot) (1975). Black and white photograph. Jim Barr and Mary Barr loan collection, Dunedin Public Art Gallery. Courtesy of Michael Lett et al.
Peter Black Motel Entrance, Napier (1981). Black and white photograph. Collection of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. Given 2006 by Jim Barr and Mary Barr. Courtesy of the artist.
On the table: Artists in the Jim Barr and Mary Barr collection. Nick Austin with Julian Dashper, Dan Arps, Patrick Pound. Installation view, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2022
On the table: Artists in the Jim Barr and Mary Barr collection. Nick Austin with Dan Arps, Campbell Patterson, Patrick Pound. Installation view, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2022
Patrick Pound Other Peoples’ Messages (1992) Stamps on canvas board. Jim Barr and Mary Barr loan collection, Dunedin Public Art Gallery
On the table: Artists in the Jim Barr and Mary Barr collection. Marie Shannon with Hany Armanious, Mikala Dwyer, Karl Fritsch, Peter Peryer and Fiona Pardington. Installation view, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2022.
Peter Peryer Parents Bed from Souvenirs (1976). Black and white photograph. Jim Barr and Mary Barr loan collection, Dunedin Public Art Gallery. Courtesy of the Estate of Peter Peryer.
Fiona Pardington Princess (1989). Black and white photograph. Collection of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. Given 2021 by Jim Barr and Mary Barr.
Karl Fritsch Untitled Candlesticks (2012) Metal, wax. Jim Barr and Mary Barr loan collection, Dunedin Public Art Gallery.
On the table
Artists in the Jim Barr and Mary Barr collection
28 May 2022 - 16 October 2022
with et al., Nick Austin, Ruth Buchanan, Yona Lee and Marie Shannon
On the table flips the script, inviting a group of artists with work in the collection of Jim Barr and Mary Barr to shape this exhibition.
Jim and Mary began collecting work from their peers in the early 1970s, when Jim was a student at Ilam School of Fine Arts. Since then, they have continued to acquire work by established and early career artists—primarily, but not always, New Zealanders—and have become recognised advocates and outspoken commentators of contemporary art in this country. Their collection is shaped by a passionate interest in art’s politics, and direct, ongoing dialogues with artists—many of whom share a playful or ambivalent relationship to the practice of collecting.
et al., Nick Austin, Ruth Buchanan, Yona Lee and Marie Shannon were invited to ‘talk back’ to the collection they are a part of by determining the selection and presentation of artworks in this exhibition. In doing so, these artists begin to explore the relationships that have shaped the collection, and the agency of the artist within public and private contexts. These are lively conversations, thinking about intimacy, care, power and what it means to live with (or around) artworks over time.
Borrowing its title from the name of short-term gallery space previously run by Jim and Mary, On the table marks 25 years since a significant portion of their collection was placed on long-term loan to Dunedin Public Art Gallery, and the recent expansion of this loan to include more than 100 further artworks.
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Ka hurikoaro te kōrero a Kai ruka i te tēpu i tana tono atu ki tētahi kāhui rika-toi me he mahi toi ā rātau ki te kohika toi o Jim rāua ko Mary Barr ki te whakarite i tēnei whakaaturaka.
I tīmata a Jim rāua ko Mary ki te kohi toi i ō rāua hoa i te tīmataka o te tekau-tau 1970, i a Jim e ako ana ki te Kura Toi o Ilam, Ilam School of Fine Arts. Nō taua wā, ko kohi tou rāua i te mahi toi nā kā rika-toi Ika-ā-Whiro, nā kā rika-toi Tore-Kai-Huruhuru hoki - mātua nei nō Aotearoa ekari ehara i te mea ko whakakōhatutia tēnā whakaaro - ā, ko tū ēnei rika-toi hai mākai, hai waha mō te mahi toi nō nāianei. Ko te wairua o te kohika nei ko whaoa e te aka kākaunui ki te toi tōrakapū, ki te kōrerorero hoki ki kā rika-toi - te nuika e pērā ana te kakahau, te kākaurua rānei ki te mahi kohi toi.
Ko tonoa a et al, rātau ko Nick Austin, ko Ruth Buchanan, ko Yona Lee, ko Marie Shannon ki te ‘whakahoki kōrero’ ki tēnei kohika, ko whai wāhi ai te katoa, nā tā rātau tīpako me te whakaaturaka o kā mahi toi nei. Nā te pēnei, ka tīmata ēnei rika-toi ki te toro atu ki kā whirika aho ko whakaahuatia te kohika, ki te mana hoki o te rika-toi i kā horopaki tūmatawhānui, tūmatawhāiti hoki. He kōrero whakahihiko ēnei matapakika, e whakaarohia ana te taupirika, te maimoataka, te mana, me te nohoka tahitaka ki (ki te taha rānei o) kā mahi toi haere nei te wā.
I minoa tōhona ikoa nā te ikoa o te ahurewa mātaki hau poto i whakahaerehia e Jim rāua ko Mary i mua, ka tohua e Kai ruka i te tēpu te 25 tau nō te wā i tukuna tētahi wāhi nui o tā rāua kohika ki te noho tautini ki Te Whare Toi Tūmatawhānui o Ōtepoti, me te whakaroroa nō nākuanei o tēnei nohoka tautinihaka kia kotahi rau nui ake anō kā mahi toi.
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